1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to an optical fiber connector, and more particularly, to a boot for an optical fiber connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
The application of fiber optics to the telecommunication and data storage industries is expanding every day. Fiber optics enables the high-speed transmission of communications and data. Connectors for optical fibers can be found in the back of instrumentation, telecommunication, routing, and switching cabinets. These cabinets accept a large number of fiber optical connectors. The optical fibers project away from the connector and tend to bend toward the ground due to the effect of gravity or the optical fibers are bent in a different direction due to an externally applied force. An optical signal passing through an optical fiber can experience a power loss if the bend radius of the optical fiber is too great. In order to prevent the optical fiber from being bent beyond a minimum bend radius, strain relief boots can be attached to the optical fiber in a region adjacent to the connector. The strain relief boot provides for a gentle, smooth, non-abrupt transition of the optical fiber from the connector to some other environment so as to maintain the optical signal at an acceptable power level.
Typically, strain relief boots have a straight, unbent shape when they are not subject to an externally applied force. Such a strain relief boot is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,681. FIG. 1 is taken from U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,681 showing a prior art connector 100. The prior art connector 100 includes the prior art optical fiber 110 which is surrounded, adjacent to the connector 100, by the prior art strain relief boot 120. When the prior art optical fiber 110 is subjected to a side load, such as the gravity, the strain relief boot 120 will bend. If the side load is too heavy, the boot 120 will bend greatly to cause a micro-bending loss of the fiber 110. Moreover, when a great number of fibers 110 are arranged in the above-mentioned cabinets, it is usually required to bundle these fiber 110 together. This will also cause the boot 120 to bend.
In order to solve the above problem, referring to FIG. 2, U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,801 discloses an adjustable strain relief boot 200 for an optical fiber connector. The strain relief boot 200 includes a stationary portion 220 and a moving portion 230 slidably connected to the stationary portion 220. The bending angle of the boot 200 can be adjusted by moving the moving portion 230.
However, the bending angle of the boot 200 is adjusted through teeth. The teeth will cause the bending angle not to be adjusted arbitrarily. Furthermore, the mechanism of the moving portion 230 is somewhat complicated and the boot 200 can be angled only in a direction.
In addition, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a flexibly bended boot 300 for an optical fiber connector is provided with a protrusion portion 330 formed on a cylindrical body 310, wherein an iron wire 340 is embedded in the protrusion portion 330.
When the boot 300 is bent to a desired shape in subjection to an external force, the iron wire 340 will also be bent accordingly. The boot 300 may still be kept in the desire shape even though when the external force vanishes. The boot 300 may be bent to an original shape with an appropriate force.
In general, the protrusion portion 330 and cylindrical body 310 are plastics. It is well-known that plastics are difficult to combine with iron. Therefore, it is easy to separate the iron wire 340 from the protrusion portion 330. Furthermore, the mass production of the boot 300 by machine is also difficult to achieve.
Accordingly, there exists a need to provide a solution to solve the aforesaid problems.